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GEN. MAHONE IN WAR TIMES

tecting ditch, and by every gesticulation showed the way to the front-and perhaps to victory. So the command came whispered along our line from the left to "Charge! Now, men, charge!"

As yet, the Georgia brigade and Alabama brigade had not gotten into position, but the moment was critical. Gen. Mahone had no idea to stand and receive volleys of lead on open field from perhaps two or three lines of battle, so he ordered his Virginia brigade (Col. W. in command) to the fearful charge, unprotected or unsupported by the flanks, and the boys answered to the low-toned command. With fixed bayonets and a strong double-quick, they sprang from the ravine and rushed upon the foe, the packed trenches. Nor was a shot fired until we hit the line; but many fell under the single volley from the rifles of the regiments in the trenches. From the right regiment in that short, bloody charge of not one hundred yards, eighty-two men fell from the front and flank fire, and so the loss was felt all along the line, lessening as the fire reached the left regiments. The trenches were won at that dash all the way on the right-our left-of the Crater, but it still sheltered its packed, disordered hunreds of black and white men.

Now came the deadly thrust of the bayonet. During the preceding years of that bloody war, it was the first time I had ever seen or ordered the bayonet to be used. To think of it makes me recoil even now. Soon the trenches were filled with the dead-in many places they lay heaped, and there was literally no place on the ground for the feet.

Many tried to escape by the front and were shot from the start. The space between the two battle

lines (they were within musket range) was covered with dead and wounded. The artillery played heavily on those seeking safety in flight, from the heights in our rear and from the flank, where the line remained unbroken. The deadly work was fearful to look upon; fearful now to recall from the dim past.

No trooops passed beyond the broken line in battle order. Fear seemed to hold those who were behind. That dreaded double-reserved line, which the Federals always kept within reach, was with the Confederates a myth. There was no second line-only a little hastily-placed artillery. The attack and recapture was made by troops brought from the extreme right of Gen. Lee's lines.

The success was wonderful; and I may add just here that Gen. Mahone's commission as a major-general bears the date of that day in commemoration of that deed, at the request of Gen. Lee and the order of President Davis. Since those sad days, some years agone now, I had the pleasure of looking at, upon the walls of his hospitable mansion in Petersburg, a large and finely-executed oil painting representing that special battle scene. It is well worth the examination of a critical artist.

The battle ground, the Crater, etc., was kept, I have heard, for exhibition to the peaceful curious, and revenue so made! I make no remark upon that subject.

I will give you one or two incidents illustrating the peculiarities of men even in the midst of such horrors. As the date and the locality would indicate, the temperature was high. The sun gave out his fiercest rays, and flesh could not be allowed to remain long uncovered when dead and festering.

Therefore, about noon of the next day, Gen. Grant raised a white flag and asked time for the removal of his wounded and burial of the dead. The latter act became absolutely necessary, and the first, of course, humanity called for. As I have stated, the space between the two lines of battle was strewn with the dead and some few wounded.

In visiting each body to determine whether dead or wounded, one poor fellow about midway between the lines, as soon as approached, bounded to his feet and no wound was found upon him; but he had laid upon that field rigid and stiff through the long day and night, afraid to raise his head, so close and steady was the fire from the Confederate battle-line; and from the Federal, too. He had waited motionless, as far as could be discovered, and after being a little refreshed by the ever-ready restorative, whiskey, marched off jauntily to his line for protection.

The dead in the Crater proper were buried where they lay, deep below the surface of the ground, simply by hastily shoveling the broken and loose dirt in upon the bodies. How many were buried in that pit I do not recall, but many had sought shelter there and met death.

One fellow I noticed closely. He lay upon his stomach, face to one side, on the incline of the pit side, and did not move at all while the earth rose around him. His tongue hung from his mouth, and the flies buzzed about it and his head, and still he made no movement until the earth was reaching his head rapidly, when the fear of being buried alive overtopped his dread of his enemies, and he then rose up and shook away the earth from his body, and

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it was found that he had no wound save that a bullet had passed through his jaws, cutting the roots of his tongue. He was sent quietly to the rear as a prisoner, and to a hospital. The dread of death with those men surmounted every other sentiment; per contra, one wounded and helpless man, a colored barber from New York, made so terrible an outcry during the night-before there had been opportunity to care for any of the wounded-that I went to him and asked why he did it. He replied that he was badly wounded by a piece of shell, that his thigh was shattered, and that he was in great pain and could not control his cries. In reply to my inquiry, he said that he was in the army against his will, that he was a drafted man and was obliged to take up his musket, and that, having enlisted, he had done his duty as far as possible. All others to whom I spoke protested: "I ain't fired a shot to day, Massa. I prays don't kill me."

When told that nothing could be done for him, but that as soon as the firing slacked a little he should be removed with the wounded to our rear for help, he remained patiently and quietly until the aid came.

The history called "The War of the Rebellion," made up of official reports-Federal, chiefly, of course-gives the loss on that memorable day as about 4,500, nearly 1,000 prisoners, and 20 stands of

colors.

But little is said of it in the history I cite; but, in truth it was one of the most desperate charges made by an unsupported single line of battle any history makes record of. It is to be remembered that this loss of life was enacted within one half hour, and along a frontage of less than two hundred yards.

After the broken line was repossessed by the Virginia brigade of a few thin regiments, the Georgia

brigade came up and rendered gallant aid in holding

the lines. But they failed to cover the Crater proper or to oust the mixed crowd of whites and blacks now huddled there. Our front was yet too narrow.

The Alabama brigade came up yet later, and while the Virginia and Georgia brigades turned their fire directly upon the excavation and kept down all heads and hands with guns, they (the Alabama troops) made a handsome charge directly on the mine and captured it without loss, comparatively. It was a handsome walk-over for them, while the Virginia. and Georgia boys kept well under cover all offenders. History gives this report from Gen. Lee: "That the recapture of the line broken by the mine explosion was due mainly to the troops of Mahone's Division, and his prompt and timely action."

President Davis replied as below:

"Have ordered the promotion of Gen. Mahone to date from the day of his memorable service, 30th of July, as recommended. JEFFERSON DAVIS.

Richmond, August 2, 1864."

Rarely, indeed, was there as much history made in half an hour during the four years' conflict.

J. T. Cartwright, of Denton, Texas, tells for the VETERAN readers some amusing incidents, and heroic deeds by a Company of Scouts under J. C. S. Blackburn of Kentucky, now an eminent member of the United States Senate, during operations in the Mississippi Valley the latter part of the war.

Capt. John A. Dicks, Natchez, Miss., who was Second Lieut. Company E, Fourth Louisiana Battalion : As a Confederate veteran, I think your periodical one of the best I have ever seen, and I have been a subscriber to everything in shape of a war book that connected with the great war, and as I grow older has come my way. I take deep interest in everything that interest grows upon me. Your subscription list ought to be a large one. Every Confederate who can spare the dollar should take the VETERAN.

I wish to get some information in completing my diary of war events. I should like to correspond with any Union soldier who was among a lot of pris oners brought out of Tennessee in advance of Hood's

Army, in December, 1864. Any soldier who was in the retreat of Gen. Hood from Nashville can well remember what a terrible trip it was. I do not believe any army in any war ever experienced greater hardships than the little band of brave men who went from Florence, Ala., to Nashville, and back again to the Tennessee River.

I was one of the guard that left Columbia, Tenn., with 1,200 Union prisoners a day in advance of the retreating Confederates, and I shudder to think of the terrible suffering endured by the Confederate guards, as well as the poor prisoners, during the march from Columbia to the Tennessee River. I I am exthought it probable you might help me. ceedingly anxious to find some Union soldier who was with that number of prisoners.

In response to inquirers for "My Happiest Christmas?" Mr. Polk Miller, in Richmond Times, states:

me.

Well, it was in the good old ante bellum days. had pop-crackers and popped 'em. The coming home when every white boy and nigger on the plantation of negroes who were hired out by the year as tanners, blacksmiths, carpenters and shoemakers, and whom we never saw at any other time, was a great pleasure to me and to them, and as they never failed to bring me "sump'n good" and made "a heap o' fuss" over It made me happy. Then, too, it was a time when I could enjoy the companionship of those whom I preferred. The white boy was good enough to play with at school, but he was inclined to have his way, and if I opposed any proposition made by him to play a certain game, he or I one would have to give in or fight it out. But the negro boys looked up to me, and whatever was my will was theirs, and they obeyed me in all things and followed wherever I led. But

No mo' will I hunt for de 'possum an' de coon,
Or set about dat sweet ole cabin doh,

For de cruel war has ruined my happy Southern home,
An' I never specks to see de like no mo.'

Capt. Dicks tells a funny story of how a Confederate, while en route to a northern prison, shrewdly swindled an old woman selling pies at twenty-five cents each. He took advantage of her confusion, slipped his hand under a fat one, raised it up, and said: "Old lady, give me my change." "How much is it, honey?" was replied; and he told her fifty cents. She handed him the quarter, and he soon gave it for more pie.

MEMORIAL PARK FOR APPOMATTOX.

The Norfolk, Va, Pilot sent a letter of inquiry some time since to prominent men of the South, to learn whether they favored making a National Park at Appomattox.

Wade Hampton replied that there was "ro historic place of the war so full of interest."

Major General Nelson A. Miles favors it, and adds: "Any movement toward properly carrying out those views will have my hearty sympathy.'

Gov. Fishback, of Arkansas: If there is any one spot in the United States. the memory of which our national government should cherish and mark with appropriate monument, that spot is "Appomattox." Gen. Louis Wagner, writing from the Battlefield Memorial Association Philadelphia, trusts that a monument may be started to that end. He corrects a popular error by stating that the government has not purchased nor magnificently parked the great field at Gettysburg, they have neither purchased nor parked, but will probably do so if Congress passes the bill introduced at this session by General Sickles. All the work heretofore done at Gettysburg has been done by the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial association (see the above letter-head), which association has been started and managed by members and posts of the G. A. R. and the monuments upon the field have been erected at the expense of the several States and regiments, represented in that battle.

The scene enacted there will ever be remembered as the greatest drama of the civil war, and should be perpetuated, the spot suitably marked, and the grounds preserved by the national government.

Lieut. Gen. S. D. Lee, Commanding Department East of the Mississippi, United Confederate Veterans, issued an order from Columbus, Miss., Dec'r 27th, 1894, in which he appointed the following staff with the rank of Brigadier General.

E. L. Russell, Mobile, Ala., Ass't-Adj't-General; Wm. Elliott, Beaufort, S. C., Inspector-General; B. F. Jonas, New Orleans, La., Quartermaster-General; Wm. Gordan McCabe, of Petersburg, Va., CommissaryGeneral; Wm. L. Calhoun, of Atlanta, Ga., JudgeAdvocate-General; W. J. McMurray, of Nashville, Tenn., Surgeon-General; W. S. Penick, of Shreveport, La., Chaplain-General.

The following additional officers were appointed with the rank of Colonel, all as Aids-de Camp:

Charles Broadway Rouss, Sam'l L. Robertson, of Birmingham, Ala.; Rich'd E. Jones, Birmingham, Ala.; A. J. Russell, Jacksonville, Fla.; L. L. Middlebrooks, Covington, Ga.; C. M. Wiley, of Macon, Ga.; M. D. Logan, of Danville, Ky.; John H. Stone, of Clinton, La.; W. D. Holder, of Jackson, Miss.; G. D. Shands, of Oxford, Miss.; Thos. Harrison, of Columbus, Miss.; Chas. M. Steadman, of Ashville, N. C.; James Armstrong, of Charleston, S.C.; Tully Brown, Nashville, Tenn.; Rob. S. Bashen, of Richmond, Va.

The order is official by E. T. Sykes, Adj't-Gen'l and Chief of Staff. And the appointees are requested to report by letter.

Eugene Worthington, Esq., of Annapolis, Md., concludes a subscription letter as follows:

After reading a copy of the VETERAN, Mr. Hays called upon me, expressed much pleasure in it, and requested me to have his name placed on the subscription list.

He is a G. A. R. man-a Past Commander of Meade Post and Aid-de Camp Dept. of Maryland. He served in Co. H. 48th, Reg. Penn. Volunteers. It was the Regiment that dug the mine in front of Petersburg. Mr. Hays was wounded badly at the second battle at Cold Harbor, in attempting to capture a battery of Artillery-the 1st Maryland, in which I served as a private.

I intend, as soon as relieved of the press of other business, to begin to solicit subscriptions for the VETERAN, those whose names I have sent in all asked me to havs it sent to them.

The old Confederates are profoundly gratified by the succes which has crowned the tireless efforts of Mr. S. A. Cunningham, founder of the CONFEDERATE VETERAN Magazine. Class papers usually fail, but Mr. Cunningham's success is a brilliant exception to the rule. The December number brings the good news that Mr. S. W. Meek, a leading publisher of Nashville, has associated himself with Mr. Cunningham as publisher and business manager. The literary and editorial departments remain in charge of the founder, and the Magizine anticipates a great future.

Thanks for the above to the Sunny South, Atlanta.

J. E. Boyett, Chico, Texas:-I wish to make inquiry of the whereabouts of two ladies who waited upon me when I was wounded at Franklin, Tenn. Their names, at that "long time ago," were Misses Mollie Brown, and Sallie Reams. I belonged to the Forty-seventh Tennessee Regiment, Cheatham's Division. Fell just where the Columbia and Franklin Turnpikes cross, and lay there all night. I was wounded in the left shoulder and right thigh. These ladies came to me the next morning just after sun up. They dressed my wounds and waited on me for seventeen days, until I was sent to Nashville. I would like to hear from them if living. I often think of these dear ladies as having saved my life.

Cox, wants to know the whereabouts of Maj. James E. A. Bullock, Uz, Texas: "My old friend, W. R. H. Nounnan, of the Sixteenth Virginia Regiment.. He was with him at the battle of Cold Harbor, Va.

HEADSTONES FOR TENNESSEANS AND VIRGINIANS.— The Tennessee Association of Confederate Soldiers has a letter from the Ladies' Memorial, of Charlottesville, Va., stating that the following named Tennessee soldiers are buried there, and asking contributions to put headstones at their graves:

Adams, E. S., Co. I, 14; Moore, D. C., Co. E, 14; Bayless, R. B., Co. K, 43; Pengen, J., Co., G, 14; Donald, T. J., Co. E, 14; Richards, B. P., Co. B, 7; Forester, T., Co. C, 7; Vaughne, G. N., Co. B, 1; Kelso, J. I., Co. G, 1; Wyatt, J., Co. D, 1.

Any contributions sent to Col. Jno. P. Hickman, Nashville, will be forwarded to the Ladies, and proper credit will be given to the donors.

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Argument is effective, upon the review of history, that the most loyal friends of the Union, until the actual outbreak in 1861, were the Southern people.

No greater claim is made than for the proportion the South bore in the Revolution. It is but natural that foreigners could not become as loyal as those whose ancestors fought under Washington. Remem. ber the words of Andrew Jackson: "The Union, it must and shall be preserved." Kentucky stood by her motto "United we stand, divided we fall," in remaining neutral. This theme was taught by the firesides and in the schools of those who espoused the cause of the South in our great war. Now and then expressions are given by those who suffered for the principle of State Rights, that must seem strange to those whose training has been since the war, but the theme of their ancestors was that the Union of the States be maintained. It was argued as policy, however, rather than principle. The right to withdraw from the compact had never been questioned, hence the greater fear that the Sovereign States would do it. The plea of the South during the childhood of those who made the best Confederate soldiers was that the Union be perpetuated, 80 when they actually went to war under a different flag, the provocation was such as to make them des. perate. Confederates honor the memory of ancestors who fought under Washington, whether they went from New Jersey, Vermont or South Carolina.

Since the above was in type, an address of Gen. R. Brinkerhoff upon the patriotism of Ohioans shows that he concurs in the foregoing. Gen. Brinkerhoff is a Union Veteran of Ohio. As a young man he was tutor of the grandsons, by adoption, of Andrew Jackson at the Hermitage.

In the annals of history we have no record of a nobler body of men than the fathers of the American Revolution, and it could not be otherwise than that they should transmit something of these qualities to their descendants, and, therefore, in all the wars of the republic the Sons of the Revolution have been first at the front. The war of 1812 was fought out under the direction of Sons of the Revolution: Jackson in command of the army of the south; Harrison, of the west; Van Rensselaer of the centre; and Wade Hampton, of the north, were all Sons of the Revolution, and so also were three fourths of the rank and

file of all these armies. On the sea, where our sailors covered themselves all over with glory, they were directed by Sons of the Revolution, like Decatur, and Hull, and Porter, and Bainbridge, and Commodore Perry. In the war of 1812, as a matter of course, the Sons of the Revolution should be at the front.

As in the war of 1812, so in the Mexican war the leading spirits were Sons of the Revolution, and there were thousands of them under the command of Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor, both of whom were Sons of the Revolution. So in the civil war the Sons of the Revolution were represented out of all proportion to their numbers.

H. M. Stanley, the explorer, was not endorsed by the VETERAN, and no deserter will ever be. A comrade at Waco, Texas, writes regarding H. M. Stanley's record as a Confederate soldier: "The Missouri Republican, in war tales published a few years ago, gave it, and it is not very much to his credit. It states that while he was acting as Paymaster's clerk he absconded with the funds entrusted to him with which to pay off the regiment. Possibly, this was not so, but it has never been denied. Such renegades should find no mention in the VETERAN."

The story of his extraordinary life was given as a matter of history. It is deplorable that a man who has done so much for civilization should ever have been faithless to any colors, especially when their people would have made any sacrifice for them, even to the surrender of their lives.

Nine widows of Revolutionary Soldiers are on the Government Pension list. They are Mary Brown, age eighty-nine, Knoxville, Tenn.; Nancy Cloud, age eighty-one, Chum, Va.; Esther S. Damon, age eighty, Plymouth Union, Vt.; Nancy Jones, age eighty, Jonesboro, Tenn.; Rebecca Mayo, age eighty-one, Newbern, Va.; Patty Richardson, age ninety-three, East Bethel, Vt.; Mary Snead, age seventy-eight, Parksley, Va.; Asenath Turner, age eighty-nine, Manchester, N. Y.; Nancy Weatherman, age eighty-four, Lineback, Tenn. Of these, six live in the South, three each in Tennessee and Virginia. Two of the others are in Vermont, and one in New York,

A serious error occurred in the article paying tribute to Capt. Edwin R. Crockett, by B. G. Bidwell, Esq., in the December VETERAN. The fault was entirely in this office. The last two sentences were added to Mr. Bidwell's tribute. In calling attention to our error, the author of the tribute states: His family and friends in Tennessee know that I know he was not a son of Davy Crockett. He was a son of Martin D. Crockett, and grand-son of Samuel Crockett, one of the earliest settlers in Robertson county, Tenn.

FROM OPPOSITE SIDE OF "THE CHASM."

Months ago publication was made in the VETERAN of the exceeding kind thought on the part of a Union Veteran, of Michigan, Hon. Washington Gardner, in sending a cordial invitation to attend their last Grand Army reunion. He had previously written the Commander suggesting the propriety, and quoted his cordial words. Mr. Gardner extended such generous hospitality in his invitation characteristic as that which has long been the pride of Southern people.

HON. WASHINGTON GARDNER.

Mr. Gardner was a private, a boy soldier in the war, and shot in the knee at Resaca, Ga. He has since risen to much literary, social and political prominence. He has been very popular for some years as a lecturer, as a professor in the Albion college, a beloved minister, a politician so prominent that as a candidate for Secretary of State at the last State election his plurality was over 108,000, and it was the largest ever given any man by either party in Michigan. It was consistent with the high character of Mr. Gardner to introduce Gen. J. B. Gordon on his recent visit to Albion. The press notices are very kind indeed. Mr. Gardner was thoughtful and kind enough to write an account of it, which is here given. In his letter he mentions Gen. Gordon as "now seamed by the storms of time as well as scarred by the bullets of battle." The following are extracts:

ALBION, MICHIGAN, January 15, 1895.

MY DEAR MR. CUNNINGHAM.-I send you clippings from our local paper and from the Hillsdale College Herald, relative to the lecture of General Gordon, recently delivered in our town and also at Hillsdale and Ann Arbor on "Last Days of the Confederacy." In each and all of these educational centers magnificent audiences greeted the General.

Probably more federal soldiers faced the speaker than any previous lecturer who ever visited our city. They came from miles away as well as from the town. Some had fought face to face with the General's troops, some had been captured by his command, and all felt they were looking into the face of one of the ablest of living commanders, and one of the bravest and most gallant spirits of the war.

At the close of the lecture, the General, by request, held an informal reception, receiving all the soldiers present and many students and citizens who pressed forward to grasp his hand.

The lecture was admirable in tone as well as in manner of delivery. No son of the South, however devoted to the past, had he chanced to be present, would have felt called upon to carry back to his late comrades in arms an apology for anything uttured, and no veteran of the North, however loyal to the old flag, could discover other than a spirit of fealty to the restored Union.

Is not this the ground the soldiers of both armies and their descendants are destined to occupy-each holding sacred the memories of the men whose deeds of valor are imperishable, and all rallying around one common standard, the emblem of authority, of order, of law and government?

I am sure I correctly represent the feelings of the great mass of the surviving veterans of the federal army when I say there is to-day in their hearts no feeling of bitterness, nor hate, nor revenge toward the brave men, who, a third of a century ago, met us so valiantly on the battle's front.

There is military glory enough in the past to cause Americans for all time to point with pride to the fact that the actors of both sides were their countrymen. There are national possibilities before us, great enough to tax the intelligence, the patriotism and the devotion of all the people of all the sections of our great country.

In a personal letter, Mr. Gardner states: "I am convinced that of all classes in the two sections, there

is less of enmity and most of charity between the

men who faced each other on the battlefield."

Victor Montgomery, Santa Ana, Cal., corrects some errors made in a note in September VETERANS by D. F. Fuller, of that place, in regard to the medal which was given by a Confederate to a Union soldier, at the battle of Fort Donelson, in appreciation of kindness shown him while wounded. The name upon the medal is Robert J. instead of "T." J. True, as published. The heirs of Mr. True are advised to communicate with Geo. M. Doyle or Victor Montgomery, at Santa Ana, Cal., and on satisfactory proof that they are the heirs, the medal will be forwarded to them.

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